Lost in the Veil
by TheCocoQueen
Summary: Aria Bel, infamously known thief for hire. A woman of mystery who likes to keep things to herself as she trusts no one and is always looking out for herself. That is until fate brings her to be apart of Eden's Zero motely crew of misfits. There she finds friends she never thought she wanted and a certain annoying blonde guy who can't seem to take a hint and leave well enough alone.
1. Aria Bel

Coco: Hello, hello! It's Coco here with a new story despite the fact, I have already published stories that need my attention as well. For those of you waiting on those updates, I am working on getting them done as soon as possible. Some things are still a bit hectic in my life, but I am writing more. This new piece being proof of that. And if we're being completely honest, I have other new pieces I'm working on or rather revisiting as some I tried to write before but discontinued if I wasn't sure which direction I was taking it. Those stories include Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer/UndecidedXOC), Enen no Shobotai (Fire Force/UndecidedXOC), Vampire Knight (Kain AkatsukiXOC) and Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist/BonXOC). Sorry, I know I need to focus more on my existing stories. I just needed something new to work on to kind of get back into the groove of things, ya know?

Anyway, for those of you who have read Fairy Tail and maybe even Rave Master, I'm sure you've noticed a similarity in the characters Mashima has created over his long career. Like, how his main protagonist always seem to be eerily similar to their predecessors. Well, after reading Eden's Zero for the first time, I fell in love with it as much as I had Fairy Tail, and had immediately got started on a different version of Rizzo, who's the main character in my Fairy Tail story. However since there weren't that many chapters out yet, I held off on really developing her story. But now, I have finally decided to start writing Aria's story. Aria being the new version of "Rizzo".

I've had a lot of fun developing her character and what kind of role she'll play in Eden's Zero. And I hope for those of you who have read my Fairy Tail story enjoy this story just as much. And for those of you who haven't read any of my work yet, I welcome you. Thank you for giving my story a chance.

Just as a warning, I'm probably going to rate this as rated M due to Aria's love of foul language. But that's going to be like the only reason why I rate it M. And this is a Weisz X OC story XD

Oh before I forget, here at the beginning when the characters are addressing each other, they're "names" are read like eight-one-four, not eight-hundred and fourteen.

* * *

YEAR X488

"Get back here, little brats!" An angered voice shouted as a large man chased after a group of teens.

The teens didn't stop. Nor did they look back when the sounds of explosions happened behind them as the building they escaped burned. There were four of them in the group, but they weren't the only ones escaping. No, there were dozens on top of dozens, on top of dozens fleeing the burning building. And it was every person for themselves—the only need for a group was for higher chances of survival and getting off the planet.

"How many explosions did you rig, 814?!" A dark-haired boy demanded as they were nearly caught up in one.

The boy—814—laughed manically as he looked over his shoulder to grin sharply at the younger boy.

"What does it matter?" 814 asked. "They're helping with our escape, aren't they?"

The dark-haired boy merely glared silently at 814 before turning back to look at the two escaping with them. They were barely keeping up as the young girl was trying to support the injured member of their group. During their escape, one of the bombs that 214 had planted exploded and nearly took the boy out completely. Almost the entirety of the right side of his body was burnt and/or bleeding. He couldn't even run on his own anymore, but the girl just wouldn't let him go.

"Drop him already!" The boy snapped. "He's practically dead! 731 isn't going to make it, you idiot. Might as well let him go now!"

The girl looked up with her eyes set in hard determination as she continued to trudge on.

"If you're worried about us slowing you down, 965, go on without us." The girl said. "But I won't leave him!"

965 scoffed. There she goes again—looking out for another. On this planet, it was all for themselves. 1331 never seemed to understand this concept though.

"Fine," 965 said. "You're on your own then."

He and 814 went on leaving the two younger teens to push forward on their own. 1331 knew they had to hurry if they wanted to catch one of the ships about to depart from the planet. They didn't have much time left, but she was determined to escape.

"We will get away from here," The girl promised 731. "We will leave the Veil…"

* * *

YEAR X492

"So, this is where that little thief has gotten off to." A figure said as they stepped off a small ship. "Blue Garden."

The figure was a woman of medium height and mocha colored skin. She had long purple locks that curled at the ends and lightened until they turned white at the ends. She usually kept her hair up in a ponytail—which was rather puffy due to the curly nature of her hair—and her bangs framed her face while falling to her chin. She had a curvaceous figure, but you could tell she trained a lot due to her toned arms. Her eyes were obscured by dark sunglasses that made it impossible to see what color they were.

She wore a white crop top with metallic accents under a cropped dark black bomber jacket that had metal plates on the sleeves, which stopped at the elbows. She then wore black spandex-like pants that were tucked into boots that went up to her thighs and had two sets of belts at the top on each boot. She had a white belt around her waist that had a holster attached. In the holster appeared to be three short metal cylinder-like objects.

"Well," The woman began. "The little thief won't be free much longer. I will take back what's mine."

She then heard a thud behind her, which had her turning. Behind her was a man—tied and gagged—wiggling towards her across the floor of the spaceship. He was yelling what was most likely profanities at the woman as he struggled her way.

"Oh, right," The woman said as she walked back onto the ship towards the man. "I forgot about you."

She knelt down next to the man who glared at her heatedly as he tried to get loose.

"I apologize for your current predicament." The woman said. "But I tried to ask you for this ship nicely. You refused. So, I had no choice but to borrow it, understand?"

The man just continued his yelling—or rather he tried continuing to yell through the gag—but the woman just sighed.

"I could have just taken it without you, ya know." She said. "But I didn't. Soon someone will find you, let you go, and you'll still have your ship. So…_you're welcome_. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get something back from a thief. They are pesky little things, aren't they?"

Though the man continued to yell, the woman went off—leaving him and his cursing behind. She looked around her surroundings then pulled out a small device from the second pouch on her belt. She turned it on with a screen popping up to show a map of Blue Garden. A small red dot appeared on the screen and blinked at her. She tapped the screen twice with the map zooming in to where that dot was.

"Hmm, looks like I've made good time." She said grinning. "That little pissant isn't that far away."

Soon she'd have it back in her possession and once she gets it to her seller, she'd get her reward. She pocketed her phone then pulled out one of the cylinders to twirl between her fingers.

"This is going to be fun." She said.

* * *

On a different part of the planet, a group of travelers departed from their own ship. Two were residents of Blue Garden—Rebecca and Happy; both members of the local guild Shooting Starlight. The other was a boy from the planet known as Granbell—Shiki. Little did these three travelers know, fate was about to bring someone new into their lives and not in the most normal of ways.

"Welcome to Blue Garden." Rebecca said.

Shiki looked around in awe at the things around him since he had never seen so many different things in his entire life.

"The buildings here are so huge!" Shiki said.

"Look over there," Rebecca instructed him.

Shiki turned his head with his eyes widening when he saw all the people walking around. He has never seen so many before.

"So…many humans…" He murmured before a large grin pulled across his face. "I wanna touch them!"

"Don't!" Rebecca snapped as she grabbed the boy by the shoulder.

Her eye twitched as she wondered what was wrong with him as Shiki just continued to grin at all the people around them.

"I wonder…if I can be friends with everyone here!" Shiki said.

"If you could, that'd be great, but while there are good people, there are bad people too." Rebecca cautioned him. "Moreover, people generally don't really care about each other."

It was something she learned when she was younger, and she knew Shiki would have to learn this too. Shiki just tilted his head as he stared at Rebecca.

"…Why are you wearing glasses?" He asked.

"Because I'm a B-Cuber!~ I'm famous!" Rebecca explained as she winked.

"Even if we don't have that many views." Happy said.

He then gasped when he was suddenly captured in a glass container. Rebecca and Shiki gasped as well as they looked to the assailant who smirked.

"This cat is from the star Excede, right?" The thief asked. "Give him to me—Welp, got him anyway. I can sell this little guy for a fortune."

The guy was then about to take off, but someone grabbed him from behind by the back of his neck. The group gasped as they looked at this newcomer. The newcomer was a woman and she didn't look friendly as she grinned dangerously at the thief. While Rebecca and Happy didn't recognize the woman, the thief apparently did as his face grew pale.

"There you are, little pissant." The woman said. "I've been looking for you. I think you stole something of mine. Back on Telos, remember?"

"Ar…Aria!" The man exclaimed.

He then cried out when the woman—Aria—tightened her hold around his neck.

"So, you do remember." She said. "That's good. Now, how about you hand over what you stole? I have a client waiting for it and I always deliver. By the way, I think you owe me a new ship considering you sabotaged mine beyond repair, so you'll be paying up for that as well."

As the man begged Aria to let him go, Shiki and Rebecca watched on tensely. Rebecca didn't know what was going on, but Happy was in danger and it had her on edge.

"I don't have it anymore, Aria!" The man claimed. "I sold it as soon as I landed, I swear!"

Aria didn't seem to like his answer as the pressure on his neck intensified, which had him crying out once more.

"I know you're lying," Aria said. "I know it's on you, and if I have to remove it personally, so be it."

Just as she seemed ready to apply more pressure to knock the man out, he threw a small bomb. It blinded everyone and by the time it cleared, the thief was gone and so was Happy.

"Happy!" Rebecca cried out as Aria 'tched' in annoyance.

Rebecca spotted the thief in the air on a hover bike as he was trying to escape.

"He's over there." She said before she coughed some more.

Shiki glared after the escaping man as he felt his anger rise higher than he's ever felt before.

"A friend robber…" He murmured before shouting, "Aaah! Come back here! Give him back!"

As Shiki gave chase to the man, who disappeared around the corner, Aria quickly pulled out her phone. After pressing a few buttons on the screen, it immediately showed the location of the stolen object that was on the thief.

"If that guy thinks he's getting away from me, he has another thing coming." Aria said.

She then reached out grabbing the handle of a passing hoverbike. Rebecca gasped as the bike came to an immediate stop while flinging off the rider in the process.

"I'll be borrowing this, pal." Aria said to the rider who was trying to get his bearings.

Then before Rebecca could blink, Aria was on the bike and shooting off into the air after the thief and passing Shiki. Rebecca stood there for a moment wondering what just happened, but she then shook her head. She didn't have time to think about some stranger. Happy needed her.

* * *

Aria sped after the thief while wishing her borrowed transportation came with some kind of weaponry. She really didn't want to resort to using _that_ as it drew too much attention. Though it didn't matter. As long as she got close enough to the guy, she'd ram him out of the air if she had to. As she was getting closer, a blur zipped passed her, which had her swerving to avoid it when it got to close. The blur turned out to be some boy who landed on the side of the building next to her. Though gravity should have had him falling to the ground, he remained perfectly crouched on the building. That's when Aria noticed the glowing marks on the boy's hands and arms.

_'Ether Gear,'_ She realized as her eyes widened slightly.

Not many people could use that. She was distracted from her thoughts, however, when the boy gave a shout while jumping towards the escaping thief.

"You're a bad guy!" The boy said then latched onto the bike. "Magimech Attack: Gravity Center!"

With what seemed like little effort on his part, the boy managed to force the hoverbike to the ground thus saving Aria anymore chasing.

"This kid is an interesting one," Aria said as she grinned.

She then decided to watch for a while to see if this boy had any other interesting tricks up his sleeve. Besides, the less work on her part the better. If she can get someone else to do the dirty work for her and for free, she wasn't about to interfere. She parked the bike in air and leaned against the handles to watch the show.

"Happy, are you okay?!" The boy called out.

_'Happy?'_ Aria thought. _'He must mean the little cat from Excede that that guy took.'_

Well, Happy wasn't answering it would seem as the blue feline looked a bit shook up from that rough landing. Bystanders were watching the scene in confusion until the thief pulled a gun and shot into the air to scare them off. And run away they did—screaming their little heads off as they were at it. Aria snorted at the people scurrying away like frightened mice.

"You…give Happy back now!" The boy demanded.

The thief looked as if he might actually do it, but then a few new players stepped onto the board. The one leading the group was a rather large, ogre-ish-looking man who Aria expected to be the pissant's boss.

"Woah, woah, what's all the ruckus about?" The ogre asked.

"Boss!" The thief cried in relief thus proving Aria correct. "Look at this! It's a cat from Excede! I stole 'im nice and easy but his owner chased me down."

The thief handed Happy over to the ogre who looked ecstatic at his little underling's haul.

"This guy's worth a fortune." The ogre said. "And what about that item you went to get on Telos? Were the rumors true? Was it really there?"

The thief grinned as he pulled out a black cube about the size of a human fist to show his boss. Aria narrowed her eyes as she looked at it.

"Yeah, Boss." The thief said. "I've got it. The Veil will sure pay a pretty penny for it, right?"

As Aria's eyes widened a bit at the mention of "the Veil", the ogre let out a boisterous laugh.

"Yes, they will." He said. "We'll be so rich we won't know what to do with ourselves, boys!"

As the men cheered, Aria's face set in a dark, livid expression. Her teeth grit tightly together as one of her hands moved back to grip on of the three cylinders.

"We'll have to move quickly though, Boss!" The thief said. "I nicked this item off someone else who was looking for it, and they tracked me here! And it's bad news, Boss. It's Aria Bel!"

At the mention of her name, a murmur of worry went through the gathered thugs. The ogre just scoffed as he took the box from the thief.

"Let her come." The ogre said. "I'll let her get a taste of my rapid fire!"

He laughed as he said this and Aria's grip tightened on the cylinder. This guy was just asking for it, and considering the foul mood she was now in, she'd give it to him plus some.

"Now, let's go, boys!" The ogre ordered his men.

"No, you can't take Happy!" The boy shouted. "And whatever you stole from that girl from earlier, give it back! It's not yours!"

If Aria wasn't angry right now, she might have been a bit surprised that the boy even cared enough to try and get some stranger their stuff back. The boy was then surprised as the girl he was with earlier finally managed to catch up. Despite the fact she looked out of breath, she glared heatedly at the thugs in front of them.

"Give Happy back!" The girl demanded.

"Rebecca!" The boy and Happy exclaimed at the sight of the girl.

"If you hurt him even just a little, I'll make you pay." Rebecca threatened.

As the group squabbled over the cat, Aria felt her patience running thinner and thinner. She had decided to sit back and watch the show, but so far there's only been talking and shouting. And it's not getting her any closer to getting that box back, and now that she knew the Veil had an interest in it—well, she's definitely _eager_ to get it back.

With that in mind, she jumped off the hoverbike right down towards the group of thugs. She landed right on the face of the leader when he looked up and people gasped as the impact sent the man falling backwards. Aria flipped off the guy's face to land on her own two feet as he crashed to the ground.

"It's Aria!" The thief exclaimed.

As the men around gasped, Aria paid them no mind as she walked over to the boss who was holding onto the cube she needed. The man was picking himself off the ground, but Aria couldn't exactly have him up and causing trouble, so she removed one of the cylinders from their holster. She twirled it in her hands and suddenly at one of the ends formed a bat made out of ether energy.

"Don't bother getting yourself up on my account." Aria said. "Why don't you just rest a little?!"

She swung the bat out while hitting the ogre-man across the face, which broke the man's nose. Blood gushed out like a fountain as he fell back towards the ground. The man fell back again and everyone watched tensely as Aria collected the cube from his hand. She calmly placed it in her inner jacket pocket before looking to the thief who had Happy.

"Now, what to do with you?" Aria wondered aloud. "You've certainly caused me a lot of trouble, pissant."

Just as she was about to head over and teach him a lesson, his goon buddies surrounded her with their weapons at the ready. She looked at them calmly as she placed her Ether weapon across her shoulder.

"Not another move, lady." One of them warned. "You'll pay for what you did to our boss, but first, hand over the cube."

"How about…no?" Aria retorted.

The men glared at her refusal, and when it looked as if they might fire, that dark-haired, Ether Gear using boy interfered. He slid across the ground between the thugs causing them to gasp. Then before they knew what he was doing, he turned them all over and slammed them into the ground using his Ether Gear.

"Thanks, kid." Aria said. "But I could have handled them."

The boy just gave her a wide grin that had Aria's brow quirking in return. This guy was a bit strange. She then reached out to snag the back of the thief's shirt when he tried to get away.

"You're not going anywhere." Aria said as she pulled him back.

The thief looked as if he was about to cry as Aria glared at him menacingly. Even Happy was a bit frightened, and he wasn't the one she was glaring at.

"I told you that you had a lot to answer for, so don't think I'm just going to let you waltz out of here." Aria said as she deactivated the cylinder to place in her pocket.

She grabbed the container Happy was in then tossed it over her shoulder at Rebecca who gasped but managed to catch it.

"Happy!" Rebecca exclaimed happily as she released her friend.

The two quickly hugged, and the boy smiled seeming glad that his friend was safe. As the two had their reunion, Aria took out her frustrations on the thief.

"I had an appointment to keep and because of you I'm late!" Aria snapped as she punched the guy repeatedly in the face.

Happy and Rebecca huddled together as they watched the woman seemed to break all the bones in the thief's face. The boy didn't even seem phased by the violence, however, as he grinned at Aria who finally dropped the guy.

"Thanks so much!" The boy said. "You're a good person."

Aria, who crouched down to search the thief's pockets, snorted because this kid had no idea just how wrong he was. He was certainly the naïve type of person.

"I owed you for that little save you did and for stopping this guy, so I repaid you." Aria told as a she pulled a wallet out of the thief's pocket, and after taking out what money was inside it, she dumped it back on the guy. "I didn't do anything out of _goodness_, kid. Now, these thugs are starting to get their second wind, so I'm getting out of here."

Rebecca looked around seeing she was right since the guys were picking themselves off the ground. Even the boss was regaining his bearings.

"You said you'd make them pay for taking your cat, right, blue-eyes?" Aria questioned as she looked to Rebecca. "Well, I guess you'll get your chance."

Aria then left the group as Rebecca tried to understand just what happened and who that girl was. But she didn't have time to worry about that. Rebecca grinned as she turned to the thugs.

"Yeah, we do have a lesson to teach these guys, don't we, Happy?" Rebecca asked.

* * *

Aria felt her eyebrow twitch as she stared the man on her screen as he was grinning sheepishly at her. The man had pale blonde hair and dark-violet colored eyes and very tanned skin. He then had a mark on his forehead that looked like a jewel and it matched the color of his eyes. He looked to be close to Aria's age though looks could be deceiving.

"What do you mean that you're not on Norma anymore?!" Aria demanded.

The man—or rather android—chuckled as he scratched the back of his head nervously. Around Aria, people stopped to glance at the woman who had stopped at a local restaurant on Blue Garden to grab a bite to eat and contact her client—this idiot. Though one glare from Aria had them quickly looking away.

"I'm sorry, Ari-chan," He apologized. "I kind of had no choice but to leave."

While he did look apologetic, Aria just growled in frustration as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Explain yourself, Lost." Aria demanded.

Aria has wasted a lot of time and effort on this one gig—not to mention money—so she wasn't in the mood for games.

"I was found out on Norma." Lost told her as he grew serious. "Apparently, they're getting more serious about finding me, so I had to leave."

Aria didn't like the sound of that one bit. If Lost was found, she wouldn't get her payment, and then she'd get really, really mad. She then looked down as she was brought her order by the small dog creature known as Nikora. It placed her food in front of her and Aria thanked the creature. It bowed before waddling away.

"Then where's the new rendezvous location?" Aria questioned once she was alone again. "I have the package and it's ready to be delivered."

Lost grew wary looking once more, which had Aria, who was cutting into her food, frowning.

"Well, I kind of can't tell you." Lost said.

Once the words left his mouth, the plate under Aria cracked right down the side dur to her stabbing her knife through the plate. The sound of it breaking had some flinching and many ducked down when seeing the dark look that fell upon the young woman's face.

"I'm sorry, but what did you just say, ya walking scrapheap?" Aria asked. "You're the one who sent me after the item currently in my pocket. You're the one who asked for it to be delivered. You're the one who promised payment, but now you can't tell me where you are. How the hell am I supposed to complete the job if I don't know where to deliver?"

Aria always completed her jobs—always, and nothing was about to ruin her perfect record. Especially not this flake of a regular customer of hers.

"I'm sorry, Ari-chan! So sorry!" Lost said as he held his hands together in a pleading manner. "Please, forgive me. I promise I wouldn't be doing this if there was any other way. You don't need to know where I am to deliver the package to me."

"What kind of fuck logic is that?" Aria retorted as her hand clenched around the knife in her hand. "I need a destination to deliver to, so to deliver your damn package. Or does that not make sense?"

If possible, for a machine to go pale, Lost probably would have went several shades lighter as he was fixed with a glare that would have the devil himself pissing his pants.

"P-please, let me explain," Lost said. "As I said, _they_ have become much more serious about finding me. They are putting a lot of time, money, and effort—it means they're growing desperate. I can't risk anyone knowing where I'm going. They could target you if they thought you knew anything."

"I can take care of myself," Aria said. "Besides, I don't fear them either."

Lost chuckled as he gave Aria an amused look, which had her frowning at him in return.

"Ah, yes, my little Ari-chan is so brave and all grown up now," Lost said. "I'm so proud."

He sniffled as he said this while dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief, which had Aria's brow twitching.

"Quit screwing around," Aria said. "You keep this up and I might dismantle you once I find you."

Lost almost seemed to pale again as he laughed nervously while averting his gaze.

"Right, sorry." He said. "Now, as I was saying earlier, you don't need to know where I am to deliver the package. I've left clues for you to follow that will lead you to me. The first one is on Norma. And once you find it, it'll lead you to the next clue. It will be a long journey, but once this transaction between us is complete, you'll have the payment I promised you."

Aria frowned because this seemed like a lot of work just for one payment, but at the same time she's been waiting for this particular payment for some time now. She's worked several jobs for Lost just to lead up to this last job. The one that will end the contract between the two that was made a few years back.

"Fine," Aria said. "But you better not skip out again."

"I will wait for you until you reach me, Aria," Lost said. "I promise."

Aria snorted before ending the call with Lost. She supposed she should finish eating, so she can find a ship to borrow to get to Norma. She'd have to later look into getting herself a new one, but she really didn't have the money for that now. What she took off the thief was barely enough to pay for her meal. She looked down at her food while giving it a deadpan look when seeing what she did to her plate. She sighed pulling the knife out of the plate and out of the table. She'd probably have to pay for that.

"We're going to head to Norma?" A voice that was vaguely familiar asked a few booths down from her.

Aria turned her head seeing those three from earlier. Rebecca was nodding her head in reply to the boy's question.

"Yeah, Professor Weisz should be able to help us with our problem." Rebecca said. "And he lives on Norma, so that will be our first stop in our journey!"

As Rebecca spoke it over with her friends, Aria grinned. It would seem as if she found her ticket to Norma.


	2. Meeting Weisz Steiner

Rebecca hummed happily as she and Happy loaded up some supplies onto the Aqua Wing. Shiki was outside getting in as much people looking as possible before they would have to leave.

"Hey, Gravity Boy," A voice called out.

Shiki whirled around seeing Aria standing there and she had a bag thrown over her shoulder. Shiki's face lit up at the sight of her.

"You're the lady from earlier!" Shiki said.

"That's right," Aria said then held out her hand. "The name is Aria Bel."

Shiki reached out to sake the woman's hand as Rebecca and Happy came out of the ship. The two gasped when seeing Aria. They hadn't expected to see her again.

"I'm Shiki!" He said. "Did you come and find us cause you wanted to be friends?!"

Aria sweat-dropped at his question as the boy was looking at her quite hopefully.

"Uh, not really," Aria said as he finally let go of her hand. "I actually have a small favor to ask."

"Favor?" Rebecca asked.

Aria turned towards the younger girl as she walked forward with Happy at her side.

"Yeah, I heard you guys were heading to Norma." Aria said. "I'm actually heading in that direction myself and need a lift if all possible. That asshole thief from earlier totaled my ship, and I was forced to leave it back on Telos."

Rebecca blinked. She's heard of Telos. It wasn't exactly a planet that many people visited. The island's air was toxic to humans and no sun seemed to shine on the planet, which meant is was always dark there. Though there were old ruins and temples on the planet that suggested that at one point it was inhabited by some kind of race of beings. Those who actually dared to venture there were usually adventurers of some sort who were looking for something valuable to sell or just looking for a challenge.

"I have a delivery to make and getting to Norma is the first step." Aria said. "I know you don't owe a stranger like me anything, but it'd be greatly appreciated."

While Shiki seemed eager to let their new 'friend' join them, Rebecca didn't say anything at first. Aria couldn't blame the girl. Best not to trust complete strangers after all. Though soon the blonde smiled as she stepped up to Aria.

"Sure, we'll give you a lift." Rebecca said. "You did help us get Happy back whether you were meaning to or not."

"Yeah!" Happy agreed as he hopped up on Rebecca's shoulder.

Rebecca then held out her hand to Aria who reached out to grasp it as she grinned.

"I'm Rebecca by the way." Rebecca introduced. "And this is Happy. We never had formal introductions."

Aria shook the girl's hand and then Happy's paw when the feline held it out to her.

"Nice to meet you both." Aria said. "You three are lifesavers."

Rebecca's smile widened. She thought Aria was supposed to be scary. Those thugs from earlier definitely seemed concerned at the mention of her alone. That one thief had really been scared of her too. But it would seem as if the woman wasn't all bad.

"It's no problem." Rebecca assured her. "We just finished loading up, so we're good to leave now."

As Rebecca gestured for Aria to follow her, Aria inwardly snorted. Obviously, these kids were too trusting. If they weren't careful someone with ill intentions could take advantage of them. Though that is the fate of the naïve. Though lucky for them Aria only needed a ride. She didn't need to swipe anything of theirs for her own benefit. Well, if they had refused her a ride like that one guy did earlier, things might have ended differently. But it would seem that she gets to play nice for now.

* * *

Aria let out a yawn as she followed Rebecca around her ship that said was call the Aqua Wing. Rebecca was giving a tour to her and Shiki who apparently was a rather new addition to Rebecca and Happy's lives. Rebecca already showed them her room, so Aria could leave her things inside as Rebecca said they could share the space for as long as Aria wishes to travel with them. Now, it was on to the rest of the ship.

"Here's the Aqua Wing's guest room," She told Shiki. "Go ahead and rest here if you're tired."

Shiki frowned as he turned his head to give Rebecca a look, which seemed to confuse the blonde.

"Can't we just stay in the same room?" Shiki asked.

"Hell no!" Rebecca snapped.

"But you're letting Aria stay in your room," Shiki whined like a child.

"That's different!" Rebecca retorted.

Shiki just pouted at the blonde who rolled her eyes in return. Aria almost snorted in amusement at the pair. Happy, who had welcomed himself to her shoulder, was giggling behind his paw as the group moved on.

"So, this ship moves on its own?" Shiki asked.

"Yeah, as long as we set a destination." Rebecca said.

Shiki looked amazed by this knowledge, which had Aria quirking her brow. This kid acted like he didn't know the basic functions of a ship. Even non-pilots knew about auto-pilot.

"Oh, hey!" Shiki suddenly exclaimed. "While we're at it, lemme pilot the ship!"

"Oh, I could get some sweet footage of that!" Rebecca said as she grinned broadly.

Aria frowned as that didn't sound like a good idea at all. She'd like to make it to Norma in one piece if possible. Though she just remained quiet as Happy and Rebecca quickly grew excited about making a video of Shiki flying.

"You guys must be B-Cubers." Aria commented after they discussed what to call the video.

"Yeah!" Rebecca said. "Our channel is known as the Aoneko Channel!"

The way she said it and how her face lit up was a dead giveaway to Aria that the younger girl was hoping Aria had heard of their channel.

"Sorry, never heard of you," Aria said honestly.

Rebecca deflated a bit, but Happy didn't seem that surprised, which lead to Aria thinking that they weren't that popular.

"But if it makes you feel better, I don't really get into that kind of stuff." Aria said. "Way too busy for that."

Her words seemed to quirk Rebecca's interest as the girl's pout from a moment ago was gone.

"Oh, really," Rebecca said. "What work do you do, Aria? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, wasn't it obvious from that run in with the thugs?" Aria questioned with a grin on her face. "I'm a thief for hire. You want it, I'll get it for ya. And my rates aren't cheap either. But, hey, you want high quality service, you gotta pay the high-quality fee."

Rebecca sweat-dropped at how bluntly Aria confessed her profession, which was definitely criminal. Not that Rebecca was judging. She doesn't know Aria's background or anything.

"Whoa, really?!" Shiki asked as he looked excitedly at Aria. "Amazing."

Aria shrugged modestly as she mentally asked what was wrong with this kid. Normally people would be on edge when hearing they were keeping company with a thief. At least Rebecca had looked a bit concerned when Aria mentioned it. Aria shook her head.

"Hey, weren't you going to pilot the ship?" Aria reminded Shiki.

At the reminder, Shiki and Rebecca grew excited again and hurried off towards the controls. As the ran off, Aria scratched the back of her head.

"I just hope he doesn't kill us," She said.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Happy, who was still on her shoulder, said.

Aria wasn't so sure about that, but she decided to leave things be. When it seemed at any time that their lives were in danger, she'd step in. It wasn't her time to die yet. She wasn't exactly ready to pass on her mission to the next number.

* * *

"I guess things could have been worse," Aria said as she stood beside Rebecca and looked at the crashed Aqua Wing.

Shiki had actually done okay in piloting ship until it came time to land on Norma. That's when things had gone bad. Hence why the ship was nose down in dirt. Though despite that, it looked okay.

"I can't believe you actually crashed it!" Rebecca growled at Shiki.

Shiki just grinned not seeming very apologetic at all. He even gave a laugh at the entire situation.

"But I bet you got some sick footage from that." Shiki said.

"I totally did!" Rebecca said as her anger was long forgotten.

"Good to see you've got your priorities straight, blue-eyes." Aria said sarcastically.

Rebecca just continued to beam as she was excited about getting to edit the footage later to upload. She was sure it'd get some awesome views.

"What are we going to do about the ship?" Happy asked.

It seemed Shiki had the answer as he used his ether gear to easily lift the Aqua Wing as if it was as light as paper. Aria let out a low whistle. That was some pretty impressive ether gear.

"You can make things weightless?" Rebecca asked.

"To an extent, yeah." Shiki said. "I made you lighter too, remember?"

"I am not a thing," Rebecca said frowning.

Rebecca, Happy, and Aria then were drawn to the sounds of their devices as they started beeping. Aria pulled out her phone to look at the screen to see a lot of ether energy was building up.

"What's that?" Shiki asked curiously.

"The weather here in Norma's a bit unusual." Rebecca said. "So, I set up this alarm. Though I'm surprised you got an alert to."

She looked to Aria as she said this as the periwinkle-haired girl was adding this new signature to her database to be remembered for later.

"Due to traveling so much, I have certain censors set up to alert me of any sudden changes I need to be made aware of concerning the planet's nature." Aria said. "Like a change in weather that could be a danger to me or a change in ether levels. It doesn't work every time, but it looks like it caught this abnormality."

Rebecca blinked because she never thought of doing something like that. She travels a bit too, and it probably could have come in handy to set something like that up.

"Weird? Abnormality?" Shiki pondered aloud.

"Look," Rebecca said simply as she pointed up.

Shiki looked up as did the others in time to see pillars of earth falling from the sky. Shiki's eyes widened at the sight.

"The heck is that?!" He exclaimed in shock.

"Those are Earth Ether crystals." Rebecca explained. "This planet is abundant in Earth Ether. The Earth Ether in the atmosphere crystallizes and rains down on the planet like so. Overtime, the crystals that penetrate the surface become part of the ground. See that short one over there?"

Rebecca pointed to the tall pillar that looked as if it had broken in half at some point.

"It probably fell from the sky a long time ago." Rebecca said.

Shiki looked amazed by this information as he slowly turned to look back at Rebecca.

"What the heck is ether?!" He asked.

Rebecca nearly fell over in shock as Aria's eyes widen slightly. She doesn't get surprised easily, but she was more than less bewildered.

"Wait, you use ether gear," Aria said. "Quite well it seems too, which means you've had training. So, how the fuck do you not know what ether is?"

Shiki just continued to look confused as Rebecca was shaking her head. She honestly wasn't that surprised considering it was Shiki they were talking to.

"It's the source of all 'power'…It's present in humans, the atmosphere, and even machines," Happy explained. "In unscientific terms, one could even call it magic."

"Magic…" Shiki repeated.

"Our Happy Blaster uses ether to shoot bullets." Rebecca explained. "And I'm guessing you use it in those cylinders of yours too, right, Aria?"

Aria nodded her head as she pulled out one of her cylinders to twirls between her fingers. She then gripped it tight as the ether bat from earlier formed.

"It's not a hard thing to use as everyone has it." Rebecca continued her explanation. "However, ether gear is a bit different. With ether gear, one can rearrange the flow of ether in their body. Just like a machine."

"So, I was a robot magician this entire time?!" Shiki gasped.

"Not exactly," Aria deadpanned as she put away the cylinder.

Shiki looked as if he was going to question more, but gasped as a large pillar of earth landed behind him. He looked over his shoulder nervously at it as the ground was shaking from impact.

"So…how can the people on this planet survive in a place like this anyway?" Shiki asked.

"Well, you see, they built their city underground." Rebecca answered. "Ready to see it?"

Shiki nodded his head eagerly, so the group headed to one of the many gates leading into the city. They headed down the tubes towards the city underneath the surface. As Shiki was looking excitedly around at everything, Aria was tapping away on her phone.

_'Norma's city is a fairly large area,' _Aria was thinking to herself. _'Maybe not the largest I've ever been in, but certainly large enough to make finding Lost's clue a bit difficult. I'll need to set up a scanner to check for his mechanical signature in hopes of shortening the search time.'_

They soon reached the bottom and stepped out. Aria blocked out Shiki's voice as he was talking animatedly about everything around them as she continued to work on her scanner. Once she was all set up, she looked up at the three who had brought her here.

"Well, looks like this is where we part ways," Aria said. "Thanks again for the lift."

While Shiki looked a bit upset that Aria was saying goodbye, Rebecca gave a smile.

"It was nothing," Rebecca said. "And if you need a ride off Norma, feel free to find us and ask. We'll probably be here a little while as we see the Professor."

"Thanks, but I don't like owing too many favors." Aria said then tapped her phone to Rebecca's be cube.

The two objects dinged, which had Shiki looking at them curiously as he wondered what was happening now.

"There's my number," Aria said to Rebecca. "You need anything just ask, and I'll be sure to return the favor you've given me. I like to settle all debts quickly, so don't hesitate, kay? I like keeping my slates clean."

Rebecca kind of sweat-dropped at Aria's words, but nodded her head in understanding.

"Well, if you're sure," Rebecca said as she went back to smiling. "But my offer still stands."

"I'll keep that in mind," Aria said. "But if I have to, I guess I can ask the next good Samaritan for a ride, or ya know, steal another ship."

Or she could just steal the money and purchase a new ship. Or swap something valuable to get what she needs. First, she needs to find something valuable, but first things first, she needs to find that stupid clue that Lost left to her.

"Why am I not surprised you'd say that?" Rebecca laughed.

Aria just smirked with a shrug. She then looked to Shiki who was still pouting a bit.

"Weren't you just super excited earlier at the thought of exploring this place?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, but I wanted to explore it with my friends," Shiki said. "All my friends."

He looked at her as he said this, and Aria sighed. How could anyone get so attached to a stranger so quickly? It didn't make any sense to her at all.

"Sorry, Smiles," Aria said.

Shiki blinked at the nickname curiously as Aria pat his shoulder in a consoling manner.

"Maybe someday we'll cross paths again," Aria said. "Though for your sakes, let's hope not. You all seem like good people. Associating with someone like me wouldn't be good for your health, trust me."

She said all this casually with a grin on her face, but Shiki felt as if deep, deep down that Aria was lonely. He reached up to put his hand on her wrist since her own hand was still on his shoulder.

"Come with us!" Shiki said. "Rebecca said the Professor might be able to help us get a better ship for our adventures! Maybe he could help you too."

Aria sighed. This kid was certainly a stubborn one, wasn't he? He just didn't seem to get it. Aria didn't want to stick around. She needed to get going and get back to her own business.

"You said you are looking for something to lead you to your friend," Rebecca pipped in. "Maybe he'll know how to find it. Or know who to ask. The Professor knows just about everyone on Norma. And Shiki is right, Professor Weisz would gladly help you."

Aria frowned. Looks like she's being double teamed now. She's just some stranger to these people. She didn't understand why they were trying to get her to hang around. Though she supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask this Weisz guy some questions.

"Fine, I'll go with you to meet this Professor of yours." Aria said getting Shiki's face to light up. "But that's it. After this we part ways, got it?"

Shiki pouted again, which had Aria groaning. This guy wasn't going to make it easy on her, was he? Rebecca laughed at the two before telling her two new companions to follow her and Happy. They'd lead the way to the Professor's place.

* * *

"Professor Weisz!" Rebecca called out as she led the group into house of Weisz Steiner.

No answer was received as the group looked around the workshop. Aria stayed near the entrance with her brow quirking as she looked up. She narrowed her eyes as she could have sworn, she heard something coming from the room above them.

"Hmm, he doesn't seem to be here," Rebecca commented when no one still hadn't come to greet them.

"Looks like he hasn't read our emails either," Happy said as he looked at his phone.

Shiki just looked around before noticing some goggles on the table next to him. He reached for them as Happy and Rebecca continued to call out for the Professor. He put them on his head while looking around. He gasped when seeing through Happy to his android form. He then looked to Rebecca when the girl called out to him.

"You can't just go and touch the Professor's stuff like that," Rebecca chided.

Aria, who was still staring up above them, was about to suggest they move on. She didn't want to deal with the person laying in wait above them. She doubted he was their professor friend, so it was best to back out now. However, her phone beeping caught her attention. She pulled it out with her left brow raising curiously when seeing Lost's signature was close. She then heard someone behind her before an arm was wrapped around neck and the click of a gun sounded beside her ear before she felt the cold metal pressed against her temple.

"No one move," A voice ordered calmly behind her. "Or your friend here gets it."

As the others whirled around looking shocked, Aria was too busy looking at her phone. The signal was coming from her "captor", which confused her. The signal was high. Obviously, Lost spent a lot of time with this human.

"Huh?!" Rebecca gasped. "Who are you? Let go of Aria!"

The man didn't budge as he narrowed his eyes at the people in front of him to give them a cold look.

"That's what I'd like to know." The man said. "What are you doing in someone else's house?"

"Someone else's…" Rebecca trailed off looking confused. "Umm, isn't this Professor Weisz's house?"

The man seemed confused by her words as his body shifted slightly, which had his grip loosening on Aria. The girl almost wanted to snort. He obviously didn't know how to properly secure a hostage.

"The Professor?" He asked.

"You know the Professor? Professor Weisz Steiner," Happy asked. "He fixed me up."

"I'm Weisz Steiner," The man declared. "Who the hell are you guys?!"

Rebecca and Happy exclaimed their shock, but Aria's attention was suddenly above them again. The person hidden above is making more noise.

_'He's about to make a move,'_ She realized. _'For what reason though?'_

"Hey, you're younger than I thought you'd be!" Shiki said as enthusiastic as usual.

Aria gave him a look wondering if he was always like this. She has a gun to her head and he's acting like everything was fine. Of course, she is too, but that's different. Or maybe it was because she wasn't showing any distress that he was acting so okay with everything that was going on.

"Wait, don't you guys know each other?" Shiki continued.

The man claiming to be Weisz scoffed as he tightened his hold on Aria who was getting tired of her personal space being invaded.

"What do you want?" Weisz demanded.

"Like…like we said, we want to see Professor Weisz," Rebecca said. "Please, let go of Aria."

Aria almost chuckled that Rebecca kept asking for her release. The kid was just too sweet for her own good.

"I see," Weisz said. "You work for Sibir."

"Sibir?" Rebecca questioned.

"Leave," Weisz ordered. "If you leave right now, I'll let you out alive."

Rebecca bit her lip as she tried to figure out what was going on. She then looked to Aria who seemed more annoyed than worried about her current predicament.

"Well, that's kind of hard to do when you're holding on so light. So, you should let go, asshat!" Aria, who finally had enough, said then roughly elbowed him in the gut.

Weisz gagged as the air was knocked out of him, which loosened his grip. Aria broke away with ease then whirled around to kick Weisz in the chest. He fell back on his ass with his eyes wide as he looked up at Aria who had his gun in hand.

"Who…are you?" He asked.

"The name is Aria." She replied. "Now, I believe you have something I want. Tell me, what did Lost leave you?"

The man seemed confused at first, but then recognition pulled across his face. He then smirked. Something that had Aria's eye twitching.

"You mean that android?" Weisz asked. "The really advanced one. Yeah, he left me something. Told me to give it to the girl named Aria. Payed me quite a bit for the job. Must be pretty important. What are you willing to give to have it?"

Aria's gaze turned dark as she wasn't in the mood for games. Though before she could just beat the snot out of Weisz and take the damn clue for herself, Shiki stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait," He said as she looked over her shoulder at him. "There's someone upstairs."

Weisz looked at Shiki in surprise as he noticed his goggles on the boy's head. He couldn't demand for him to hand them over though as bullets started raining down from the ceiling. Aria immediately put herself between Weisz and the bullets as she needed him alive to get Lost's clue.

"Forgot about him," Aria said with a huff as the bullets continued to rain down.

"What in the cosmos's is going on?!" Rebecca gasped.

Aria was about to launch an attack to take out their opponent, but Shiki beat her to it. He easily took down the attacker with his ether gear and during the chaos Weisz hopped on his motorcycle and escaped.

"Hey!" Aria snapped. "Come back here!"

Of course, the man didn't listen as he kept making his getaway. Aria growled.

"Dammit!" She cursed.

She then noticed another bike off to the side and hurried over to it. She had to pull a tarp off of it and noticed it was a much older model than any bike she's ever seen before. But it didn't matter as long as it ran, she could catch up to the guy. She hopped onto the vehicle while starting it up. Once the engine revved, she was peeling out of the workshop after Weisz.

"Aria, where are you going?!" Rebecca called after her.

"He has something I need, and I'm not letting him get away!" Aria shouted over her shoulder.

She then disappeared leaving her companions behind. Rebecca watched her go while feeling worry build up in her stomach.


End file.
